Fifteen teens were moved out of an embattled Western Maryland detention center in mid-May after a torrential downpour flooded parts of the state and overflowed a creek behind the Green Ridge Youth Center.

For two weeks, frontline staff have traveled to Backbone Mountain Youth Center, about an hour southwest of Green Ridge, to care for the teens relocated out of “an abundance of caution,” according to the Department of Juvenile Services.

The parents of the children were notified of the move and told their teens would receive services at Backbone, according to an agency letter.

“At this time, the plan is to keep the placements unified” — which meant the facilities would stay merged, according to a letter written on May 21 by Patti Cleaver, the executive director of behavioral health, case management and program services.

Green Ridge staff traveled with the children to Backbone and had believed at the time they would be moving back once it was safe to do so.

But it wasn’t until The Banner inquired about the agency’s long-term plans for Green Ridge and those detained and working there that authorities announced they would reopen the center on June 2.

Green Ridge staff have been struggling in recent months with an uptick in violent assaults on workers by the teens sent there by a judge for treatment and therapy. The attacks, documented in police records and annual reports, have resulted in roughly half the staff being out on injured leave.

Frontline staff are responsible for monitoring the troubled teens and are specially trained to deescalate conflicts and build relationships with the children while they’re in the state’s care.

The teens were initially moved to Backbone just before midnight on May 13. Green Ridge’s gym flooded and the sewage system temporarily backed up, according to juvenile services.

Internal emails and memos over two weeks following the storm sent conflicting messages to staff about their assignments.

On the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, agency officials told Green Ridge workers they would be temporarily reassigned to another juvenile services facility and that they did not have an end date. Staff were given three days to choose their next workplace.

“In light of Green Ridge not being operational, staff will be reassigned to other facilities,” Zereena Velez, acting superintendent of Green Ridge wrote in an email titled “Temporary Reassignment Volunteers.”

In a subsequent message from Backbone’s Superintendent Corey Marshall, staff were told: “Green Ridge staff are being reassigned to other DJS facilities” and were instructed to rank their top choices for their next workplace.

But on Monday, the agency posted a separate memo, telling staff to disregard that part of Marshall’s message.

“At this time, no reassignments or requests to relocate will occur,” wrote Tiffani A. Johnson, deputy secretary of support services, and Jeff Hughes, chief of human resources and payroll.

Johnson’s and Hughes’ memo praised the staff and expressed gratitude for their work during the “temporary consolidation” of the two locations, and shared that the state may have other uses for the Green Ridge facility while the teens are at Backbone, including housing families displaced by the flood or volunteers.

Two days later, on Wednesday, the agency told The Banner and the state employees’ union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3, they had decided to reopen the facility.

“Our union is glad to hear that DJS leaders have walked back their confusing and misleading attempts to re-assign staff and close Green Ridge Youth Center,“ President Patrick Moran said.

State law requires an agency to notify the public and state lawmakers representing that facility’s district months ahead of closing it if 25 or more state employees work there. Roughly 60 people work at Green Ridge.

Moran said he expects DJS leaders will meet with the union regularly to discuss proper care for the youths at Green Ridge and how they will ensure staff safety.